Scouring soap caxe, to be used in general scouring and cleaning purposes



W. C. RI CKETIS.

SCOURING SOAP CAKE, TO BE USED IN GENERAL SCOURING AND CLEANING PURPOSES.

- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, I9I9.

1,328,898, Patented Jan.27,1920.

INVEN TOR.

" scounme soar can, To an cm m cm; seems an enema rmosm.

I To all'whom may concern:

that it breaks up into minute pieces and isv that it is verysevere in its work and will tion to the steel STATES ,PATENTOFFICE- f 003m 310mm, 0] DAYTON, OHIO.

Be it known that I, Wmmsir Conwln Ricxm'rs, of the cityof Dayton, countywof' Montgomery, State of Ohio, United States of America, have invented new and useful Im rovements in 80611 Soap Cakes, to be in General Scourmg and Cleaning Purposes, of which the following is a' specification.

My invention relates to the improvement of combining metal wool and soap mthe formof a cake, for scouring, cleaning and polishing, by rubbing the cake on the surface to be cleaned and in the presence of water,

and the objects of myinvention are, -first, to form metal wool into a solld substantial body wit-ha free scouring face, second, to

thoroughly bind the metal wool together and retain it in form, third, to provide a constant su ply of soap to the scouring face of the meta wool, fourth, to retain the soap and prevent it from breaking up and wasting awa y a a I attain these objects in' the scouring soap cakes illustrated in in in which l he figure is a section through a scouring soap cake having a solid body with a spongy porous working face.

One kind of metal wool which I use as a scouring agent of my invention, is a product commonly known as steel wool. I am aware that this material is now used to clean and polish the surface of wood -and metal, and the objectionable features n using it are,

quickly reduced to a useless mass by friction,

scratch, that it is sharp and prick] and ing used as a cleaning and scouringagent, used in the presence of water, and in the form of a cake with soa as a body and binder to the metal fibers, and as a lubricant to prevent scratching, and as a solvent to loosen the grease and dirt,.and as a protecwool against rusting in water.

In the practical application of my mvention, I prefer to use .:a non-corrosive metal wool thattwill not rust in water. It s practical to make metal wool of zinc, brass and a few other metals, that will not rust-in water like steel, and therefore such metal wool would form an ideal material for these Specification a Letters rum. Application ma m1; 17,1010. Serial Io. aaa'ou.

the accompanying draw..

, Patented Jan. 27, 1920.

scouring cakes. Steel wool will not rust 1 when covered mg cakes protectionfrom rust comp ed in -a practical way.

In the figure, show one form of these scouring soap cakes. The b0dy (c) bei metal wool permeated with soap and into cake form- Theface of the cake (6) is used for scouring by rubbing onthe surface to be cleaned, and in the presence of water to dissolve the soap in the face of the The metal wool 0 cans mechanically,

and the soa lubricates the surface and dissolves the irta'nd grease. The cover (a). provides means for holding the cake and also prevents excessive moisture from softenmg the top of the cake. e figure shows a section of this scourng soap cake which has a soft porousscourmg jace' (b) and which will conform readily to any surface being cleaned, the body portion (a) being a compressed mass of metal wool and soap, and the face (11) beinga loose expanded mass of metal wool and soap and-which readily softens in the presence of water. This characteristic in a scouring face is necessary in a new scourmg cake, when used on surfaces that are not flat, such as that of kitchen utensils.

The cover (a) shown in Fi re (1), is made of 'a material that will not? destroyed by water or which will not scratch the article being. cleaned. For this purpose therefore, I employ acloth fabric, wool being particularly valuable as-it will adhere to the metal wool cake and not become slippery from the soap and does protect the hand from the prickly metal wool, and the top of the cake from free-action of the water.

It is to be understood that these scouring cakescontain ninety per cent. soap of a consistency that will become firm and solid when cooled, and hard when dried out, and

in the claims to follow will be referred to as hard soap. Soft soap and liquid soap are commercial forms inwhich soap is com- "monly used for various purposes, and if mixed with metal wool would not attain the objects of my invention. Metal wool is a loose expanded material, and must be compressedin order to form these soa cakes into a solid body. This isdone whi e hard soap is yet .warm and soft'and mixed with the metal wool, and upon cooling remains. a solid cake. To form a-soft porous working face on the solid cake, it is only nry i'sacto steam the surface slightly, thus allowing the metal wool to again expand, but on the surface only. v Thus hard soap and metal wool can be combined in a new form 0f cake for a new and useful result.

Having thus described my what I claim is- I l. A scouring soap cake, consisting of metal wool permeated with hard soap and formed into a cake, said cake having a solid body of said materials and a soft spongy scouring face which readily absorbs water and will conform to any surfaee applied thereto, as set forth.

'2. A scouring soap cake consisting of a non-rusting metal wool permeated with hard soap and formed into a cake, said cake having a body portion and a scouring face invention WILLIAM CORWIN RIGKETTS.

Witnesses ALEX. R. MALONE, JOHN MCKINNON. 

